Robert David

Desautels Faculty of Management

Strategy and Organization

Professor David received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2001. At McGill, he currently teaches Organizational Policy (a capstone strategy course), Industry Analysis & Competitive Strategy (a strategy elective), and Seminar in Organizational Theory (a Ph.D. seminar). He also teaches in the faculty's executive programs. Professor David has been honoured with the Faculty of Management's Distinguished Teaching Award and the Desautels Doctoral Student Society's Best Advisor Award. He was recently named a Quebec Teaching Fellow for 2009-2013 in a province-wide competition. Prior to joining McGill, Professor David taught Management & Organizations to both undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University.

Professor David does research on the evolution of industries, organizations, and management practices from an institutional perspective. His doctoral dissertation examined the emergence, evolution, and competitive dynamics of the management consulting industry. In addition to his ongoing research on management consulting, Professor David has been involved in collaborative research projects on management fashions (with David Strang), corporate governance (with Ilya Okhmatovskiy), liquor retailing (with Glen Dowell), and alternative electric power (with Wesley Sine). He has recently begun a new project on the Quebec wine and cider industry. Professor David has been honoured with the Cleghorn Faculty Scholar Award on two occasions (2007-2010 and 2011-2014). He currently serves as the Director of McGill's Centre for Strategy Studies in Organization.

Professor David has received research grants from the "Fonds de Recherche sur la Societé et la Culture" of Quebec (FQRSC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). He frequently presents his research at the annual meetings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC), the Academy of Management (AoM), and the European Group on Organization Studies (EGOS). He has won Best Paper awards from ASAC and from the Academy of Management. Professor David has published his work in Research Policy, Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, and Organization Science, as well as in edited volumes. He currently serves on the editorial board of Organization Science and as an associate editor at Journal of Management Inquiry, and served previously on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Review (2005-2008). He was recently honored for "Outstanding Service" to the Organization Science Editorial Board. In addition, he reviews for Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Studies, and Strategic Management Journal.

Prior to entering academia, Professor David worked for Procter & Gamble and Canadian Pacific Limited.